I love reading books that you can't put down, and they just take you over for a night or a weekend.

You can quit smoking, and never have to have a cigarette again to survive. But with food, it is a daily challenge.

I've been told by people who write historical novels that you just sort of write the emotional truth first, the story at the core, and then you go back and research it at the end.

I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to, even, but it could still feel big.

I don't pretend for a second that I'm that great of a person on a day-to-day basis. I'm a deeply flawed human.

I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe in Santa Claus, and I was ruining everyone's Christmas.

Writers have a job to do. Editors do, too. You have to stand ground and cede ground on a case by case basis. When an editor tells me something isn't working and I still believe in it, I tend to think it just isn't working hard enough.